At our boutique travel public relations agency, we have found in the past few years that individual journalists who cover destinations, hotels, tour companies and luxury lifestyle in general are looking for tailored news to their particular interest. Over the many years we’ve been practicing, we’ve discovered this is more important than ever before.
This applies even when you are doing a special package geared to a holiday or getaway or trend release in which your client can comment and provide insight. And it’s vital to make yours catchy and avoid being trite with such typical ingredients as rose petals on the bed and a bottle of chilled Champagne upon arrival.
Since editors receive literally hundreds of emails a day, we’ve found its best to get to know what each one writes about and tailor a short pitch letter.
Here are some tips:
- Make sure the subject field has something that will appeal to that particular writer. Read some of their previous articles and see the kind of things they cover, and how they slant their coverage.
- Tailor the pitch to the magazine; so if it’s going to a Men’s Fitness, throw in something that relates to getting and staying in shape over your vacation. Nearly every hotel out there has a fitness room; so experienced travelers bring their sneakers or yoga gear in order to stay fit while on vacation.
- Look for blogs that may apply to the particular angle you are pitching, and develop a list. While the blogs may have relatively small readerships compared to a major national magazine or newspaper, the search engines index these blogs, and when people are researching, these write-ups can often get picked up surprisingly well.
- Reserve news releases for truly hard news, like a renovation, groundbreaking, new offering or new executive appointment. When the content is truly worth it, issue a press release, making sure to put the basics: who, what, when, where and why.
- Look around for reporters who might have a beat particular to your pitch. So for example, if you are promoting a city or region, and music concerts are a feature, then research reporters that cover music.
- Write your pitch letter with a few opening paragraphs and then bullet points that highlight the relevant information. Remember those in the news industry have very little time, and general make up their minds in less that thirty seconds.
A final note: leave out superlatives like “the most unique,” unless it really applies. Nothing turns off a reporter more than hype. Whether it’s a pitch letter or a news release, truth is always paramount.